02/02/2010

Momofuku Ramen and more

If you have all day and then some and you want to turn much meat into a yummy meaty broth, this is the soup for you. It came out quite delicious tasting but it took a whole Sunday. For some reason I woke up nauseous that morning and the smell of chicken and pork bones simmering on the stove for hours somehow didn't help the queasiness, go figure. Before I ate, I primed the pump with a little beer and whiskey and the soup went down just fine.

Roasted pork bones

The recipe I used is straight out of Momofuku by David Chang. This is a pretty great book and you should buy it... but it is very pork-centric so if you don't enjoy the pig, this is not a book for you. I cut the recipe ingredients by half and only used one strip of bacon as opposed to what would have been half a pound.

The broth begins with steeping a bit of kombu, then some dried shiitakes, roasting pork bones while taking out the mushrooms, adding chicken (with bones), removing said chicken, inserting the pork bones and then letting it simmer for six hours or more. Adding a little onion, scallion, carrot, soy sauce, mirin and salt at the end. Strain and reduce if desired.

Can I just let you know that roasting pork bones smell like cracklins. Like, damn good. Don't let the meat go to waste either. Pull it off the bone when it is all done cooking and throw it into tacos or whatever you like. Same for the chicken.

While the broth was bubbling away, I turned the oven to 250 degrees and roasted a pork shoulder that had previously been rubbed all over with salt and sugar, then put in the refrigerator overnight to marinate and release some of the juices. Think I overdid the meat a bit because the outside was quite crispy so maybe not so much time in the oven as was directed- five hours instead of six would have been plenty. Shred the meat after it cools. Steam some seasonal veggies, boil some store-bought lo mein and you are ready to go.

I also did a jar of apple pickles and one of beets and carrots using the master pickling recipe from the same book. Haven't tasted them yet but I'm guessing they will be quite sweet, literally, taking into consideration all the sugar in the recipe.

In other news... Jason made an unexpected visit to the city although he was just getting over bronchitis and catching something else. We had lunch at Hog Island Oyster Company where I ate my first ever raw oyster. It was yummy delicious, aside from my fear that I was going to start feeling the effects of paralytic shellfish poisoning at any moment. I survived it and didn't even have a tummy ache!

The weekend before was P's birthday (and following a debauched day at the racetrack that involved several hot dogs, nachos, beer, whiskey, gambling and free fleece track jackets!) we drove out to Yountville on a rainy Sunday to eat at Thomas Keller's restaurant Bouchon. We had an appetizer of brussel sprouts and celery root, where brown butter was a major player. Brown butter can do no wrong.

I ate the best french fries ever and I don't want to know the substance in which they were fried. Some things are better left a mystery. The fat of an animal was involved I'm fairly certain. The steak was gigantic and slathered on top with a layer of finely chopped caramelized onions and you guessed it, more butter!